Kohl’s New Concept Store Is Small

A new 35,000 square foot Kohl’s store will open in Tacoma, Wash. It is humming with new ideas as the company is unveiling its first mini store. The company had promised in May that they plan to open one hundred of these units in the next five years. This first store will open November 4^th and participate in the critical holiday quarter. It is located in the Tacoma Mall, a Simon property.

One thought – this new store is away from the thundering critics and gives management the unique chance to highlight the successes and correct any flaws without constant scrutiny by outsiders. Frankly, from reports I have heard, it has few flaws since it stresses openness and has modern fixtures. The floors are polished concrete, and there is a racetrack layout making all departments accessible. Lighting in the relatively small store is flexible, making it easy to enlarge or shrink departments depending on the season.

The assortment had to be edited and best sellers had been chosen for the planned opening. Michelle Gass, CEO of Kohl’s, mentioned to David Moin of WWD that Kohl’s used data to create a very localized experience and an assortment characterized by more focus on outdoor brand greats such as Columbia and Eddie Bauer. There are more mannequins, including models with a variety of skin tones, in all sizes in order to emphasize family brands.

One of the major changes in the store’s layout is that the checkout is no longer in front of the store near the entrance. The check-out is now on the side, giving customers more of a merchandise feeling when they enter the store. ”It will not take long for customers to see the check-out area.” said Gass.

Of course, there is a Sephora boutique that will attract young customers. As a matter of fact, the whole store has a young feeling that should appeal to the Gen X age group. More Mini-Kohl’s are already under construction in (1) San Angelo, Texas, (2) Morgantown, West Virginia, and (3) Lenox, Mass. These units certainly will give management a chance to evaluate the success of smaller stores. A traditional Kohl’s store is about 80,000 square feet in size. The new stores will be a prototype for the additional units planned in coming years; a total of 86 small stores are planned to be opened in the next four fiscal years and several more will fall into year 5.

Editing the assortment to deliver a true local focus will be tough since demographics, weather, and ethnicity have to e considered. Kohl’s management has indicated that they will use data to make decisions for each location.

POSTSCRIPT: About 600 stores have been torn up in the past two tears to make room for Sephora boutiques. It was a great coup for Kohl’s to partner with Sephora since it should bring down the average age of shoppers. 250 stores will get Sephora boutiques this coming year. I hope that the holiday season will show some strength in the revamped stores since the second quarter saw an -8.5 percent drop in sales. New store formats, adding Sephora and rolling out small concepts, will hopefully give Kohl’s momentum for the future.